AA Hospitality Awards 2026: the winners on what the night meant to them

It was a huge night for the hospitality industry at the AA Hospitality awards 2026-2027, with a number of restaurants taking home big prizes.

Close to 1,000 chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs and suppliers filled the JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane, on a night marking 70 years of the AA rosette award.

Once the trophies had been handed out, The Staff Canteen caught up with four of the winners. We asked what the recognition meant to them and discovered there really is no rest for the wicked!

Andrew Pern, The Star Inn at Harome: Restaurant of the Year - England

The Star Inn at Harome were a big winner on the night, taking home AA Restaurant of the Year for England. Andrew Pern has run the North Yorkshire pub since 1996, but it has not always been smooth sailing. In November 2021 a fire gutted the building, before the restaurant reopened a year later, rebuilt with its Michelin star restored.

Andrew said: "To win an award like this, it's absolutely brilliant. It's probably one of the highlights of my 30 years of being here. We've been through thick and thin. It's definitely not been an easy path to get to the top, shall we say, but now we're here, we're loving it.

"It's all about consistency. It's giving people great British hospitality, to be honest. It doesn't need to be that difficult. The comfort, the warmth, the standard of the place, it's an old English inn that's very polished. I'm proud to be in charge of a brilliant team and they've all done us proud."

For Andrew, there was something fitting about this award coming from the AA. Some of the first awards he ever won were AA rosettes, first one and then two, at a little country pub before he arrived at The Star Inn.

He said: "It's sort of a culmination of all the things that we've done over the past 30 years plus. To win this one, it's a big one, and it's going to look very nice on our mantlepiece."

The celebrations will have to wait, though. Andrew and the team caught the last train to Yorkshire after the ceremony and got home at 2.30am. They were back at work the next morning.

He said: "We celebrate every day. Every day is a great day in hospitality. It's one for the team. I dare say on Sunday night at the end of the week we'll crack a bottle or two or three or whatever. Any excuse for a celebration, we don't really need any encouraging, and we'll definitely have a good staff party this year."

John Chantarasak, AngloThai: Restaurant of the Year - London

AngloThai arguably had the biggest night of anyone. The restaurant that opened in November 2024 won AA Restaurant of the Year for London and three AA rosettes, just months after picking up a Michelin star.

John Chantarasak runs the Marylebone restaurant with his wife Desiree. He spoke to us the following day from Oslo, where he was changing flights for Ålesund on a chef's trip looking at Norwegian seafood. Suffice to say it was an early start.

John said: "With any of these bodies of recognition from big companies like this, it's always an amazing feeling and an amazing achievement for the whole team, for starters, but also nice to feel that there's some affirmation that you're doing the right thing and you're on the right path, that people are enjoying what you're putting out there.

"Desiree and I have both always held things like Michelin and the AA, the Good Food Guide or the National Restaurant Awards in high esteem, and we're just super, super thrilled to be picking up something like restaurant of the year, because there's only one every year. It's very, very humbling.

"When things like this come around, it's just lovely icing on the cake that really makes you remember why you're doing it, and how special it can be to achieve these things, especially with a room full of hospitality like we had last night, with 1,000 people being able to see that and share that moment with us."

He put the win down to the individuality of the place: "A lot of detail goes into every single aspect of what we do, and we do that because we love it, but also because we feel very passionate about trying to give all of our guests a unique dining experience that they can't have anywhere else in the world. Maybe it's not conventional half the time, but that is the unique nature of how we operate, and it's nice to see that that's being celebrated."

So how did London's restaurant of the year celebrate? John has had a busy month: his eldest son has just started school, there's an extension under way at home and he had a flight to catch. So he toasted the win with "a glass of sparkling water".

Allister Barsby, Hide and Fox: Achieved Four Rosettes

Hide and Fox, near Hythe in Kent, was one of six restaurants awarded four AA rosettes on the night. It came seven and a half years after Allister Barsby opened its doors.

Allister said: "It's major getting recognition, that's for sure. To get three rosettes quite early on and then four last night, it feels like a milestone. It's something we've been wanting for a while.

"I think we're the first and only in Kent to get four as well, so it's quite a big deal. We're very chuffed and, as always, it's down to the team. We've got a great team and they all believe in the process and the vision. It's not really possible without them."

The team were just as happy, he said, and they made the most of it: "It was a good night last night."

He added: "The food was great. There's a couple of events like that every year, like the AA, where you can meet up with all your industry friends and have a good old catch up, and last night was no exception. It was good fun."